Austin housing market experiencing a ‘missing middle’

​​​​AUSTIN – Austin’s housing crunch is especially evident in a recent uptick in high-end sales—growth that is further heating up the market even as lower-priced properties languish.

The overall metro area recorded 2,509 single-family home sales last month, a decline of 1.4 percent compared with March 2016, according to recently released Austin Board of Realtors (ABOR) data.

Meanwhile the 780 sales inside Austin city limits in March represented a 1.2 percent year-over-year increase.

But gains were concentrated in high-priced properties—sales dropped year over year for all homes priced under $300,000 in Austin. 

The fastest-growing class were homes priced at $400,000-$499,999​—there were 119 sales, representing a 15.8 percent jump from March 2016. 

There were also big increases at the ultra-high end: the 46 sales in the $750,000-$999,999 range were a 20 percent year-over-year increase and the 28 sales for $1 million-plus were a 13 percent increase.

There were no homes sold for less than $100,000 last month and only two sold for $100,000-$150,000.

That imbalance appears unlikely to change any time soon: monthly housing inventory of single-family homes priced at $250,000 or less is "essentially nonexistent" at 1.5 months, ABOR said.

Compare that with an inventory of 11.3 months for homes priced at $1 million or more.

That "missing middle" housing stock usually refers to multi-unit or clustered housing types, such as duplexes and townhouses—something between apartment towers and detached single-family homes.